


Mungo

by dieunerbittlichefuchs



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Distrust of Mungos, Friendship, Gen, Good Karma Lone Wanderer (Fallout), rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:35:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29678517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dieunerbittlichefuchs/pseuds/dieunerbittlichefuchs
Summary: The first Mungo in known memory comes to Lamplight
Relationships: Male Lone Wanderer & Robert Joseph MacCready
Kudos: 4





	Mungo

MacCready honestly never expected to see the Mungo again after he left for Paradise Falls, and that was more than fine with him. Mungos, as everyone knew, brought nothing but trouble, and the further away from Lamplight he could keep them, the safer everyone would be. He’d even done them the favor of taking Sticky with him. MacCready hoped that son of a bitch ended up as monster chow. 

Of course the Mungo came back two weeks later, fucking smirk on his face and two giddy kids in tow, and goddamn if MacCready wasn’t secretly wishing he could shoot that Mungo right in the fucking dick instead of letting him in. It was only Jason telling him about setting a good example for the little ones that got him to do it. MacCready hoped they wouldn’t have to learn the “don’t let someone come in and kill you because you didn’t have your fucking gun pointed at them” lesson. 

And that, and absolutely no other fucking reason, despite what Princess said, was why MacCready was following the Mungo all around Lamplight. And when she tried to say otherwise, he told her to get back to her fucking gate before the goddamn monster came and ate them all and it was her fucking fault. She just smirked. Bitch. 

The thing was, the Mungo seemed to be helping. He’d said something about getting into Vault 87, and MacCready was perfectly happy to let him get killed in that monster nest, but he kept deciding to try and take care of every fucking thing that someone asked him about. It was fucking annoying. 

First he gave Jason some more books for the classroom, which was nice enough, MacCready figured. No point having a town if everyone in it is a fucking brain-dead idiot. He wasn’t sure if Jason was helping (most of the kids he had to deal with were pretty fucking stupid), but why the fuck not. Nothing wrong with it. 

Then someone mentioned that one of the fucking pipes was leaking. The fucking pipes always leaked. They were two hundred fucking years old. But the Mungo grabbed some scrap metal and went to go take a look at them. MacCready got wet. He fucking hated being wet. But the Mungo did a decent job and didn’t try to poison the fucking water or anything that would get him fucking shot. And MacCready was always on the lookout for an excuse. 

The fucking dogs loved him. Him and his fucking Wasteland mutt. MacCready liked having them around, but they followed the Mungo around like he was some kind of fucking food machine. It was fucking ridiculous. He’d never hear the end of it from Lucy if he shot one accidentally. 

For the first couple of days, the Mungo was content to let MacCready keep an eye on him, but he eventually started trying to make small talk. It was fucking annoying. How could MacCready stop him from causing trouble if he was distracted by fucking conversation? If it had been up to him, he would have fucking shot the Mungo for trying to pull something, but the rest of the Lamplighters had been pretty fucking clear he was going to be on the town shit list if he did. So he just watched the Mungo work without talking. 

The Mungo was completely unfazed by MacCready ignoring his attempts at being friendly. The small talk moved from asking questions about Lamplight and its inhabitants and instead to talking about the wasteland. 

“They’re damn lucky nobody tried to blow up the place in the 200 years it took me to get there and disarm the bomb.” 

“A whole fucking cannibal town! Whole place was weird as shit. Been inbreeding ever since the War. Probably fucked with their heads.” 

“Don’t give me that look, I’m serious! He was a synthetic man. Grown in a lab and all. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t done that whole thing with the memory reset. Ended up shooting that doctor for him. Guy was a dick.” 

“Those fucking Vaults, everything about them is fucked up. One of them was trying to turn musicians into super soldiers. One was built as a personal playground for some sick fuck to torment people. One just shoved all kinds of drugs into the vents to see what would happen. I wonder what 87’s deal was.” 

MacCready answered for the first time. “The place is crawling with fucking monsters,” he said. “They probably have something to do with it.” 

The Mungo nodded, smiling slightly. “I think you’re right, MacCready,” he said. 

They were friendlier after that. MacCready finally stopped holding his rifle all the time and answered some of the Mungo’s questions. Jason knew more about the history of Lamplight than he did, but that didn’t stop MacCready from trying to answer as much as he could. He was the fucking mayor after all, and he had a reputation to uphold. 

“So, MacCready,” the Mungo said on his fifth day in Lamplight, “I’ve put off getting into 87 long enough. You know how to get there, right?” 

When he’d first let the Mungo into Lamplight, MacCready would have been thrilled to let him go deal with the monsters. Now, though, he didn’t like the idea at all. 

“It's not safe, even for someone as brave as you,” he said. “There's monsters back there. We got pretty good at keeping them out of the town though. Probably better than you could do.” 

“But you do know the way to get there?” the Mungo asked again. 

MacCready sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “I do. It’s through Murder Pass. Not a real safe way to go, but it's the only door that works.” 

“Murder Pass?” the Mungo asked with a grimace. “I’ll pass. Are you sure that’s the only way?” 

“It’s the only way that works, yeah,” MacCready said. “The other door hasn’t worked since longer than anyone here can remember, not that we’ve got a fucking maintenance log. The computer’s busted, and not even Joesph can make it work.” 

“A busted computer?” the Mungo echoed. “That might be something I can fix. Do you know where Joesph is?” 

“I’ve been with you all damn week,” MacCready said. “Fuck if I know where he is.” 

The Mungo went to go find Joesph, whisting for his dog to come, but MacCready didn’t follow him. The back door would be better than Murder Pass at least, but that was probably the difference between being shot in the leg and being shot in the heart. One was guaranteed to kill you, the other one was just likely to. The monsters were more active in the Vault than they were in Murder Pass, but at least in the Vault they wouldn’t have great firing lines. 

Biwwy came running up to him a little later, saying Jason and the Mungo were ready to try to open the door. MacCready went to the back of the caverns to see the Mungo on his back below the computer. His dog was curled up in the corner furthest from the door to the Vault. 

“Hey, MacCready,” Joesph said. “I think we’re making some progress down here.” 

“Don’t know about progress,” the Mungo said. “Damn thing isn’t in great condition. It’s doing things, but not the things I want it to do.” He stood up and started typing on the keyboard. 

“I spoke too soon,” he said. “This should be enough, at least for now. Stand back, Joesph.” A few seconds of typing later, a sound of metal sliding out of a sheath came from the door, and the Mungo stepped back with a satisfied smile. 

“That’ll be the lock,” he said. “Thanks for the help, Joesph, MacCready.” 

“R.J.” MacCready blurted. The Mungo raised an eyebrow. 

“That’s my name,” he said. “R.J.” 

The Mungo nodded and patted his thigh, causing his dog to stand up and come to his side. He opened the door just long enough for the two of them to slip through, then shut it behind them. 

For the second time, MacCready never expected to see the Mungo again. It wasn’t more than fine with him this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look, I took a break from finishing a longfic to throw out a one-shot in a different fandom. For a game that came out in 2008. And has had ~3 subsequent entries in its franchise. 
> 
> Anyway, this idea was bouncing around in my head for a while, and it only took a couple of days to put it to paper, so to speak. Thanks for reading, and anything at all you have to say would be appreciated


End file.
